A trash boom interceptor will be installed in the Ganga River in Haridwar ahead of the Ardh Kumbh 2027 to prevent solid waste from polluting the river, officials said.
Over 100 metric tonnes of waste were removed from the Ganga during the 18-day closure of the Upper Ganga Canal this year, the Haridwar district administration said.
The technology, currently being used in hydropower projects in Uttarakhand, will be deployed in the Ganga for the first time in the state. The interceptor will be a permanent installation and is proposed to be set up at Amrapur Ghat and Jatwara Ghat, officials added.
Nandan Kumar, commissioner for Haridwar Municipal Corporation, said a tender had been floated for the installation of the interceptor, which is expected to be operational before the Ardh Kumbh 2027.
“The trash boom interceptor is a floating barrier which intercepts all kinds of waste disposed of in the river, like flowers, clothes, plastic waste and other solid items. The technology works in such a way that across the canal, a boom barrier is set up and the boom shifts the waste towards one of the banks. When the waste is accumulated near the bank, it is shifted to the conveyor belt,” Kumar said.
This year, 32 organisations participated in a special cleanliness drive along the Ganga, involving more than 13,000 people.
The waste collected during the drive was sent to the Haridwar Municipal Corporation for proper disposal.
The district administration has also appealed to people to deposit discarded clothes and other waste materials at designated collection points instead of dumping them into the river, to help maintain its cleanliness and purity.
